Come see this elegant home in a great subdivision just minutes from the hustle and bustle of the city. Country living with the convenience of the city near by! You have to come check out the beautiful hardwood floors, new carpet plus a $1500 flooring allowance. Huge backyard with a great covered patio. Split floor-plan with a wonderful master suite. This one is in the coveted Cabot School District and is just a short drive to them. Seller is offering a one year home warranty from First American Home Buyers Protection. This one will not last long!
I don't even know where to start. I was warned before I went to the class that there was A LOT of information to be learned. I didn't know it was going to be like putting a fire hose to my ear and turning it on. WOW! I learned so many cool little tricks and tactics that it will be impossible to incorporate them all into my business. Of course, the instructors stated over and over that we couldn't use them all but we should pick a few that we were comfortable with.
The first day of class was fun. I met a lot of knew people and did some networking with Realtors from all over the state of Arkansas. I can proudly say I know some good Realtors that will be getting my referrals if I ever have any for their areas. Kay Lawrence was our teacher on the first day. She has been in the business for many years and has a vast knowledge of the industry. It was an absolute pleasure to meet her and I am lucky to have been able to attend her class. Kay taught me a lot about getting back to the basics and working my SOI to the fullest of its capabilities. She gave me some great ideas on keeping in touch with my SOI and some percentages on the number of them I need to touch on a weekly basis. She really stressed organization and goals. Both of which have been beat into my head here at The Rain.
One of my favorite things that she stressed that I haven't been doing enough is MAKING time for family activities. If you can't enjoy a little time with the family after your hard work then what are we working for? She also stressed that we should prepare a marketing budget/schedule and stick to them. We should also closely monitor what is working best and what isn't working and adjust our marketing budget often. Hey if something isn't working, why pay for it! One last thing that she taught was learn how to delegate. Being in the Army has helped me a lot with this aspect of the business and let me tell you, delegation can save you a lot of time.
The second and third day of the course were taught by John Mayfield. Let me tell you one thing this man knows about technology and I soaked up every word that he spoke for two days. I was lucky enough to get to go to lunch one day with him and picked his brain. If you want to learn A TON about technology, check into getting John at your next event as a speaker/instructor. http://www.RealEstateTechGuy.com I promise you that you will not regret it. I can't even begin to explain everything that John taught us in the class so I am going to highlight a few. Some of my favorite things were the free programs/websites he showed us. Like http://www.cutepdf.comwhich is a website that converts documents to PDF format, FOR FREE. Wow! http://www.tinyurl.comis a great website. It takes looooooooonggggg url's and makes them short. A great tool to use with twitter. Also, http://www.hellotxt.com is a website where you can post things one time and it will post to most of your networking/socializing websites. That is so awesome!
John Mayfield also showed us some cool toys we should definitely get. First, I am absolutely convinced that I now have to have an iPhone. I did not know the wide array of things this phone can actually do. One of the cool applications for the phone is actually a digital voice recorder that can convert your voice to words. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You mean to tell me that I can speak into a voice recorder and it can convert my words to writings??? Wow! Does that sound like it could save you some time blogging? Just a thought... Also I have been looking at buying a more expensive camera so we can take wide angle shots. Slow down Josh, you don't have to. John showed us a site called http://www.magneticlenses.com With these lenses, you can take wide angle shots at a cost of just over $35 and the lenses fit most digital cameras. Even the cheap ones! Yeah!
One of the cool software programs that John showed us that is free is Photo Story 3. You can create virtual tours all by yourself and you don't have to pay a company to do them for you and it is FREE! Add music, voice over, text, etc. it is a great program and we are already using it. As you can see I learned a ton of technology tools from the class and I am pumped about them. You would think this is all of it but I am here to tell you that what I have written above is a drop in the bucket to what all he showed us.
The last day of class was taught by Tina Daniel. She travels the United States teaching in almost all areas of Real Estate. Let me tell you, this woman knows her regulations and she knows Real Estate. http://www.AIRE.usThis is her website where you if you are an Arkansas Realtor you can take many courses on-line that will help you with your business. Tina really help me discover things that I didn't know about the Real Estate process and help me improve my knowledge of things that I had forgotten.
Tina also got into reverse qualifying, which as I understood was common practice in Real Estate a few years ago. It sounded like a great tool to help a buyer early on in the process of buying a home figure out how much home they should be looking for. She also got into the subject of unauthorized practice of law. Let me tell you that there is a very fine line between what we do and the practice of law. So, if you haven't read your regulations lately, maybe you should pull them out and make sure you are doing the right things to stay in the know and out of trouble.
Well, I am sorry I have babbled on and on about the class but it was a great experience. I still have 8 more classes to go but I am extremely stoked about the opportunity to get my GRI and to soak up more information that will help not only myself, but most importantly my clients. Anything that I can learn to help my clients will make me a better Realtor and I can be happy with that. Thanks for stopping by!!!
Graduate Realtor Institute: GRI is a designation I have been wanting for a while. I don't think I have ever been as excited about taking classes as I am for taking the GRI series. I am excited about what I am about to learn and can't hardly wait to apply my new knowledge. The class begins on Feb. 9th and I'll have all of my requirements met by mid May.
Not only will I learn a lot but I will have a broader knowledge of how to help serve my clients in new and better ways. I believe after I finish the GRI series of classes this year that will be it for this year as far as designation classes. However, I do believe next year I am going to get my CRS(Certified Residential Specialist). That is definitely second on my list. But who knows, I may work on it over the summer if I can.
Well, I ask everyone to wish me luck and I know that I am doing the right thing for my clients and for my career. Thanks to all here who have inspired me to better myself and a BIG THANK YOU to my beautiful Wife for tolerating me and keeping me in line so I can take this class. I love you sweetheart! I'll keep you updated on how the classes are going!
Beautiful home on 1.3 acres with a scenic view. Large kitchen with breakfast area, walk in pantry, custom oak wood cabinets, 2 side by side ovens and a formal dining area. Oversized laundry room, large master suite with gas log fireplace, master bath with heated whirlpooltub, walk in shower, separate vanities and 2 walk in closets. Media room upstairs wired for surround sound with a full wet bar. Large foyer and living room with beautiful crown molding throughout the home, wooden blinds, hardwood and ceramic tile throughout home except for carpeted media room. Full irrigation system, very nice landscaping, heated garage, heated workshop, huge floored attic, 2 fifty gallon water heaters, large covered back patio with large patio extended, much much more! This is a beautiful must see home!
Check out the Kitchen!
What a beautiful entrance!
If you would like to see this house or any other in the Central Arkansas Area give Kathy and/or myself a call at 501-626-2975 or 501-626-4749 or email us at joshandkathyschmidt@gmail.com
Well all the time spent blogging and commenting has paid off. Today I got my first phone call from someone who found my blog online. What a great day it was and what a great feeling it was to hear someone that appreciated my work.
I guess it is something I have been waiting for but I never expected a phone call like this. I was thanked over and over for the sacrifices my family has made, what I have done for this countryand the service I provided for free in my blogs. To think all of that thanks just for writing about what I do. It was GREAT and brought a smile to my face.
Needless to say I will be working with this client very soon and they are a military couple. I love working with military couples as I am military myself and I know what they go through. I just want to say thanks to the ActiveRain community for all of your help and I hope this is the first of many clients that find me here. For those of you still waiting on your first, I am living proof that in just 2 short months blogging has brought me business and if your patient and diligent in writing it will bring you business too.
Government loans require a lot of documentation so don't allow yourself or your customer to become frustrated. It is imperative for everyone to cooperate fully in order to have a smooth government transaction. Here is just a list of some of the "hold up" items as well as some recommendations on making it a smoother transaction.
Tax returns must beSIGNED and DATED even if they were filed by an accountant or online (Full return w/all schedules must be included)
Bank statements must include NAME of the bank and the customer, Account number, and cover a 30 day history. If they are online statements they must be printed directly from a secure website indicated by "https" at the bottom of the printout. If they are provided by a bank employee, ALL pages must be signed, dated, and stamped.
A pest inspection mustALWAYS be done for VA loans and submitted to the lender for approval. If the inspector comments on items like rotted wood, be prepared to fix them in order to close the transaction.
Contract must be signed and dated by all parties, as well as all changes initialed/dated by all parties. This can no longer be taken care of at closing.
Do not put items in the contract such as "Seller to pay buyer $500 for repairs." Anything the seller is paying to the buyer must be "Towards closing costs" or paid directly to a third party vendor. (IE. Handy man, Home Warranty, etc.)
Delays that are out of our control happen with government loans as all of you know. Make it a less stressful process for you and your customer. Advise your buyer not to set up appointments w/movers, contractors, parties, etc. for the day after closing. The mortgage company understands and cares that our customers have obligations but sometimes delays are unavoidable. Advise customers to schedule appointments a week after the closing date.
Turn in the contract asap. If there are changes required that must be initialed, sellers can get very irritated when they have to tend to the contract again a couple of days before closing.
The worse the credit, the more documentation required. Prepare yourself and your customer.
All VA applicants must have their Certificate of Eligibility (COE). If they have never used their VA benefits before we can generally obtain this online instantly. If they have used their benefits before this process can take SEVERAL WEEKS! Make sure this is taken care of before the customer finds a home so they can close on time.
All FHA/VA applicants must have 2 years of work history. School/College does count. If the customer does not meet this requirement, they will have to provide a satisfactory letter of explanation telling us why.
An offer letter is not sufficient to show income for FHA/VA loans. The customer must provide a pay stub including 30 days history prior to closing, NO EXCEPTIONS!
If the customer receives a gift for down payment and closing costs, they must show this transaction properly by way of a gift letter. There should be a paper trail proving transfer of funds from the donor to the recipient (IE. Gift letter filled out by both parties as well as a copy of the cancelled check. Sometimes donor will be asked for a bank statement to prove ability to gift funds.) This is very important.
The above is a list sent to me via email from a friend(Bob Worthington of Coldwell Banker Mortgage) in the mortgage business. I hope you all take advantage of this list and go into your Real Estate transaction more prepared and hopefully you will not be asking "What's the hold up". Feel free to give us a call or email us if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by our blog!
We just wanted to give you an opportunity to check out our website and search for homes in the Cabot Real Estate Area and Central Arkansas Real Estate Areas. We have been working hard on our website to make it as easy for you the consumer to use and find homes as easy as possible. So check it out at http://www.joshandkathyschmidt.com and if you have time and want to get to know us a little better you can check out our profile on Active Rain at http://activerain.com/joshandkathyschmidt.
From there you can checkout our blog, our profile, a little bit about us, our specializations and just a few testimonials from happy customers. I hope you have time to read a few of our blogs to get to know us and I hope that you utilize our website in your home search on-line.
We particularly enjoy working with military families as I am in the military myself and a Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I learned a lot in my time overseas and I have the highest respect for those families who have to deal with being active duty in any service.
When you are ready to buy or sell in the Central Arkansas Area please give us a call or just email us and we will get in contact with you asap. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can help in any way in your Real Estate endeavor.
Well to start with my wife, my son, my mother, my sister and myself all took a trip this past weekend just to get away for a few days. We went to a small town in Northwest Arkansas called Eureka Springs.
The above picturewas taken at one of the local train rides in Eureka Springs. They give a very informative ride and give you a great history lesson behind how Eureka came to be.
We also had the pleasure of visiting the ThornCrown Chapel during our stay. To say this building is stunning would be an understatement. It was designed by award winning architect E. Fay Jones and is being replicated in a few places around the country. But I have always believed there is nothing like the original.
As you can see you are completely surrounded by nature and the Chapel is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever had the pleasure of visiting and if you are wanting some peace and quiet along with a little time to talk to God this is definitely the place to go.
While we were there we had the chance to visit the Crescent Hotel. This is a hotel, turned college, turned cancer treatment hospital, turned back into a haunted hotel destination. The hotel itself has a very storied past and you will have to check it out at the website above as it is way to long to type it all here. The picture below is a shot of the entrance to the hotel.
The next picture I amgoing to share with you may freak some of you out, but I just couldn't resist showing off some of our pictures from our ghost tour of the hotel. I can assure you this is an original and has not been photo-shopped or altered in any way. When my wife and I looked at this after taking the picture, the chill running down our spines was easy to explain. Can you see the face?
Look between the exit sign and the window in the picture and tell me that doesn't give you a chill. Yes, this is authentic and it was taken this past weekend. No, the shadow out the window isn't what we are talking about, look for the face.
Well now that we got the spooky stuff out of the way, lets get to the fun stuff. While we were in town we just had to visit Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. For those of you who love wildlife and those of you with big hearts looking for a good cause to donate to you have found it. The organization takes in abused, neglected, and unwanted "big cats". They provide as natural of a home as possible for Lions, Tigers, Cougars, Pumas, Panthers, etc. My son absolutely loved it there and so did my wife and I. You can actually stay there overnight and wake up to the site of Tigers in the morning. It is quite the feeling to donate to such a cause.
The above animals are new to the refuge and after a period of getting used to the other animals they will be released into a bigger natural habitat.
Above the little man and me enjoyed feeding a few White Tail Deer the refuge had taken in. To say that we had a blast at the refuge would be about as accurate as I could get. My wife, my son, and I had smiles on our faces the whole time we were there.
Well that about sums up the trip. We left on Wednesday and came home late on Friday to enjoy all of the firework displays in and around our community. I would have to say it was quite a fun weekend and some much needed quality time with the family. It put a smile on their beautiful faces and is that not the most important thing of all? Thanks for reading!
Wonderful home in Vilonia with over 2 1/2 acres on a cul del sac. Three over sized bedrooms and 3 full baths with a split floorplan. Large open living room with woodburing fireplace. Huge shop with plenty of covered parking for your boat, tractor, ATV, etc. Enjoy the stocked catfish pond and country living at it's best. Don't let this one get away! Call today for an appointment to view this home.
Joshua and Kathy Schmidt
Coldwell Banker Advantage Realty 140 Professional Drive Cabot, AR 72023
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
I just want to say thanks to the ActiveRain community for all of your help and I hope this is the first of many clients that find me here. For those of you still waiting on your first, I am living proof that in just 2 short months blogging has brought me business and if your patient and diligent in writing it will bring you business too. 
<<<<<<<AR this is for YOU!!!
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